Time For A Change
by melancholyxdreams
Summary: Alice and Ace have been together for two years, but are things as perfect as they seem?
1. Blissful Denial

Chapter 1:

Blissful Denial

Castle Rock, Maine

September, 1962

I looked at myself in the cracked mirror over the sink. I had pulled my thick brown hair into a high ponytail and had my long bangs pushed back with a pink and black plastic headband. I reached for my tube of new lipstick and ran the dark red colour over my lips, thinking that my fourteen-year-old former tomboyish self would be cringing in horror at my girlish attempts. I looked down at my beanpole long legs, which were clad in a pair of Ace's old holy faded blue jeans. At least I wasn't wearing a skirt. I hadn't gone that far over to the dark side yet.

I smoothed down the front of my short-sleeved pink blouse and grabbed my pocketbook off the counter and went to meet Vern by the back door to walk to school. Vern had gotten his hair cut short for school like he did every year. The only thing different about my twin brother was his new glasses, which were taking a bit of getting used to. The thick black frames kept sliding down his pudgy nose. Our friend Teddy hadn't seen him with them on yet. Teddy had Coke-bottle thick glasses and was literally blind without them.

"OK," said Vern, pushing up his glasses with a thick finger. "The guys wanted to get to school early today, so i guess we're not going to see them until lunch."

I shrugged. "That's alright. That means I can stop by and see Ace before first bell."

"I...what? Oh, Alice, come on," Vern pleaded. Ace and I had been dating not quite exclusively for over two years, and Vern still got a bit anxious and nervous around him.

"Vern, he's my _boyfriend_," I said, stressing the last word. Vern looked away pointedly and shuddered. I sighed and grabbed him by the elbow, hitching up my pocketbook and leather school satchel.

****

After saying goodbye to Ace on the front steps of Castle Rock High, I watched him saunter away slowly, turning back to glance at me one last time. I grinned at him. He winked back, walking down the corner to his empty shoebox he called a house. He hadn't seen hide-nor-hair of his mother in almost a year.

One of my best girlfriends, Rosemary Schaffer, was waiting for me inside the large double doors. She linked arms with me as we walked towards twelfth grade homeroom, Mr. Harrison.

"So," she said, grinning, shaking her perfectly curled-under blonde hair. "How's your summer been with Ace?" Rosemary had been spending the summer with her mom in Portland after her parents divorce in June.

"Umhmmm...Okayyyy.." I said, waving to Chris and Gordie by the lockers. "But I wonder..."

Rosemary gave me a surprised look. "Is something going on with you guys?" she asked as we walked into the buzzing homeroom already filled with students. We took two seats in the back so it would be easier to pass notes.

"I...not really. But..." I hesitated. "He's been a little distant lately. I think he misses his Mom more than he lets on and..." I sighed. Ace never really revealed his feelings about anything, except about us(which was a success in itself), but it was really starting to get on my nerves lately. Did I tell him that though? Are alligators purple?

"Hang in there." Rosemary patted my shoulder. "It must suck for him too that you still have a year left of school, so he doesn't get to see you as much."

I looked at her. I'd never even thought of that. He would probably be feeling lonely the next few months. I would have to think of something fun to do for him.

Chris's cheery face suddenly bent down in front of mine. "Hey, Tessio!" he said, grinning that infectious grin of his. He gave me a shoulder punch, at which Rosemary gave him a dirty look.

"How's Spencer doing?"

I laughed. If Ace had just heard that, he'd knock Chris's block off. I stuck my tounge out at him. "_Ace_ is fine." Chris took the seat on my left and we waited for Mr. Harrison to take roll call.

I soon fell into the familiar routine of school: homeroom, English, gym, Math, lunch, study hall and History. I was also taking SAT classes to start preparing for college. I had started filling out forms for scholarships in the summer and had already been accepted to Brown, Sarah Lawrence and Wellesley Colleges. Now I only had to choose, and keep my straight A average. And I still had to tell Ace. My friends all knew, and were all being extremely supportive. Gordie had been accepted to Yale on an English scholarship.

Chris...Chris was trying so hard. He wanted to get the hell out of Castle Rock like the rest of us, but he had more of a past than all of us combined. I still got a migrane in the spot from where his bastard father whalloped me two years before. Mr. Chambers didn't live in Castle Rock anymore, but his shadow still did, and Chris saw it more than anyone.

I left History with Gordie and my other good girlfriends Diana Austen and Connie Moore. My leather satchel was already full of notebooks written with assignments and term papers to write. I caught sight of Teddy with a couple of guys I didn't know and waved to him. He saluted back, winking.

"Mrs. Sutton is such a bitch!" Diana moaned, hefting her school bag to her left shoulder. "I already have three assignments, and one term paper due in a week!" Connie nodded in agreement.

I patted Di on the shoulder and pointed to my buldging satchel. "I know the feeling," I said.

"Yeah, but you've already got a free ride to college!" said Diana, making a face.

I put my hands on my hips. "I still have to work really hard to _keep _that free ride, Di," I said, wrinkling my nose at her. She ignored me and pointed to the oak tree just past the teacher's parking lot in the back of the school.

"Lover Boy's here," she grinned. Gordie made a slight gagging noise. I gave him the finger and hopped off the last step.

Ace raised his head in acknowledgement of my friends. Gordie nodded to him nervously. I still couldn't blame him for not being best friends with the guy. He had beat the shit out of him three years ago.

"You ready?" he said quietly, in that gravely voice that made my insides flop over. I nodded. He wrapped one long arm around my waist and we headed towards town.


	2. All Mixed Up

Chapter 2:

All Mixed Up

Ace and I walked into Sally's Malt Shop. It was packed full of kids I recognized from school. I saw Connie with her football star boyfriend, Benjamin Taylor dancing in the far corner to 'Sherry' by The Four Seasons blasting on the radio.

Ace lead me up to the main counter. The young blonde waitress handed us sticky plastic menus, but I already knew what I wanted, a Cherry Coke float. Ace ordered it for me, and got a vanilla milkshake for himself.

As we waited for our order, I hummed along to the radio. I was such a pop music fanatic lately. My favourite show was even 'American Bandstand'. The previous year I had filled out a contest form to win a trip to Philadelphia to dance on the show, but I had missed the cut-off by two people.

"So have you heard anything from Billy lately?" Ace asked, rubbing his hand softly on my arm.

I shook my head. "Mom doesn't talk much about him, and she and Dad have only visited him once, right after he was convicted."

My older brother Billy had been sentenced to five years in Shawshank for roberry and attempted assault the previous winter. I thought of him with disgust every time he was mentioned. I couldn't believe that scum was my brother. He'd never been the nicest guy on the planet, but he'd never been as bad as Chris's brother who was still in Shawshank for doing something really bad to a girl.

Ace continued to rub my arm. "I'm sorry. I still can't believe I used to hang around him, Eyeball and all those other assholes. I was such a jerk!" He sounded suddenlty aggitated, so I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the mouth. He gave me a sideways grin to tell me it wasn't all bad.

Donna, the waitress, handed us our orders. I grabbed the long silver spoon next to my float and took a big foamy scoop of ice cream and Cherry Coke. I smacked my lips together. "Yummmm," I sighed.

As I devoured my treat, I heard a couple of people from study hall mentioning certain colleges and my mind went right to my scholarships. I had pretty much chosen Wellesley for my school and was going to call the administrations office by the end of the week. But I still didn't know how to approach Ace about leaving Castle Rock. Wellesley was in Massachusetts, which wasn't exceedingly far away, but it was still a several hours drive away.

Ace must've noticed an internal struggle going on because his face tightened and he sat up straighter. He ran his hand through his shaggy blond hair and asked, "What's wrong?"

I bit my lip, feeling as though I had an angel on my right shoulder and the devil on my left arguing about what to do with my situation. Unfortunately at the moment, the devil was kicking the angel's ass, so I shook my head.

"Nothing. I have the first test of the year next week, that's all." I inwardly cringed. I was being such a pussy and I knew I'd probably pay for not telling Ace the whole truth eventually. Ace looked mollified, however.

"Alright then." And he visibly relaxed.

We finished our snacks and talked about my and Vern's seventeenth birthday, which was coming up in two weeks. I couldn't believe I was going to be seventeen. I had my Sweet Sixteen the year before and Ace and my friends had thrown me the most memorable party ever. It would be hard to top it, but I knew my friends would be up to the challenge.

"I heard your friend Rosemary talking about you guys buying dresses for your party?" Ace asked casually.

I choked on the last bites of my ice cream. "A dress? Me? She's dillusional."

There was something different about Ace's look now.

"Would it be so bad if you got a dress?" he asked, grinning. Then he looked a bit more serious. "I think you'd look...beautiful." His face turned beet red, and he looked away.

I sighed. "I'll think about it," trying not to giggle at Ace's obvious embarassment. It was really sweet that he wanted me to wear a dress and I really would think about getting one, but not before I killed Rosemary for bringing the subject up in the first place.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Shoulder To Cry On

The next day, Connie and I were walking home from the library. Ace was waiting in my driveway. He looked pissed and held something tight in his hand. Connie said goodbye to me nervously, looking over her shoulder as she went to her home across the street.

"Ace?" I asked tentitively, reaching out for his clenched fist. He edged away.

"What," he spat. "Is this?" He shoved my Wellesley college brochure I'd had in my school satchel yesterday in my face. My blood instantly turned ice-cold and my mouth dropped. I'm sure my mouth must've looked like the opening of the Lincoln tunnel. I tried to snatch the flyer back, but Ace crumpled it up and threw it at my Dad's red '49 Ford. It bounced off the side and dropped like a bomb into a small puddle in the driveway.

"It's...it was a brochure for..." I choked on the word. "Wellesley."

"Wellesley," he snarled, backing away from me. "Is one of those fancy all-girls schools where you have to know words like...like 'incendiary' to get in?"

I blinked. Incendiary? Where the hell did he get that word from? "Well, yes. But..."

"No buts," he yelled, his face turning the colour of a pomegranate. "How long have you known you were going to go to this school? How long, Alice?"

I blanched and my face felt hot. "Since the summer."

Ace's breath hitched in his throat. I had only seen that wild look in his grey eyes once before, right after he had told me something in secrecy two years earlier. I started to walk towards him but he held his hands up defensively.

"Don't," he muttered. He sounded utterly defeated. "You're going to leave me. Just like everyone else" He stumbled away in the direction of his house, not taking his eyes off the ground.

"Oh, baby. Ace!" I whispered, my tears falling thick and fast.

****

After a short dinner of vaguely picking at some green beans, I excused myself from the table. Vern gave me a petulant look which I ignored. Creeping into the hallway, I took the phone off the cradle, dialed Chris's number and slid into the closet, wrinkling my nose as the smell of mothballs became present. I pulled the chain I knew was above my head and a weak yellow light filled the small space. I sighed as I waited for someone at Chris's home to answer.

"Hello?" It was his mother.

"Hello, Mrs. Chambers, is Chris there?"

"Sure, Alice. Hold on a moment."

"Thanks."

Less than a minute later, I heard Chris grab the phone from his mother and answer breathlessly.

"Hey, I was just about to start my chemistry homework. Thanks for the great escape!"

I let out a feeble laugh. Chris noticed the lame attempt right away. That's how I already knew it was the right choice to call him first.

"What's wrong, Lise?" Having him call me by my childhood nickname was very comforting.

I heaved a big sigh. "Can I come over for a bit? I need to talk to you and I don't want to say anything on the phone."

I heard Chris suck in a deep breath. OK, but I'll have to tell Mom you're helping me with chemistry. It's a school night."

"Sure. I'll be there in ten minutes."

****

I knocked on the Chambers' front door eight minutes later. I had stealthily tucked my advanced placement chemistry notebook unter my arm as a decoy. Chris flung open the door, grinned at my notebook, but frowned when he saw my face.

"Oh, God," he whispered. "is it really bad? Did he..."  
I shook my head, trembling all over now. "No, he didn't hit me or anything. Not that I don't think he could have." I shuddered when I remembered that stormy look in his eyes just hours before.

"I made us hot chocolate," Chris said, offering me a mug as we left through the kitchen to go to his tiny room on the second floor.

I threw my well-organized notebook on Chris's army cot and sank down on the floor in front of the bed, burying my face in my hands. Chris sat down heavily next to me and slung his right arm over my skinny shoulders.

"It'll be OK," he assured me. "You guys have fought before and you've always figured it out.

I looked into Chris's sympathetic blue eyes.

"Yeah, but this is big this time, Chris," I mumbled, playing with the fringe on the bottom of my jeans. "He found my Wellesley brochure I left by mistake at the malt shop yesterday. And you know I haven't even talked to him _about_ college yet, let alone telling him about my scholarships."

Chris let out a long breath. "Jesus, what a mess," he said, squeezing my shoulder.

"Tell me about it."

"I could talk to him, if you want?" he asked, totally serious.

"What?!" I squeaked, eyeing him. "Um, no. I'd rather have my best friend in one piece, thanks."

He chuckled. "Fair enough. But you know I'll be here for you through all this. We all will," he said, referring to our other friends. He looked into my eyes suddenly, throwing me off completely.

"I've always been there," he whispered, his voice unusually husky. He grabbed my hand with his left and leaned in close. I could count the freckles on his still-summer-tanned nose, and could smell the peppermint from his chewing gum.

A millisecond later, his mouth was on mine and all sense of time stopped. I shouldn't have, but I kissed him back until he started to push me back on the floor.

"Mumph, stop!" I yelped, startling him. His bottom teeth caught the side of my mouth and it started to bleed. I hopped up from the floor, shaking like a leaf. "I-I have to go!" I stammered. I grabbed my notebook from Chris's cot and ran from his room, not even bothering to try to decipher Chris's stuttering apology.

I ran like I was trying to go for first place in the Boston Marathon and lept out the Chambers' front door, leaving a frazzled Mrs. Chambers in my wake, gaping after me.

Heading back to my house, I touched the corner of my still bleeding lip, feeling more confused than ever.


	4. Farewell, Teddy

Chapter 4:

Farewell, Teddy

The next few weeks passed uneventfully, though I was still not talking to Ace and I was avoiding Chris all together. That was the hardest part. I couldn't help but feel betrayed at what had happened that fateful night at the Chambers' house and I didn't really want anything more to come of it. But I was really starting to miss my best friend. Apparently our other friends knew something was going on, but they mostly didn't push the issue and for that I was grateful. I say mostly because almost every day at lunch Gordie would give me and Chris questioning and pointing looks that got so annoying I wanted to smack him.

It was now two weeks before me and Vern's 17th birthday. My girlfriends were excitedly talking about it and inviting practically everyone we ran into at school to attend. Rosemary, Connie and Diana took me on the Friday two weeks before the party to help me pick out a dress. I wasn't really looking forward to it as I had made that promise with Ace and thoughts of him while looking through racks of clothes would only drive me crazy. But my friends were insistent and after school we went to the only women and juniors dress store in Castle Rock. It was called 'Betty's Boutique'. Could you believe I was going into a store called 'Betty's Boutique'? I knew if Chris and I had been speaking he would've clapped me on the back and laughed his ass off, but we weren't so I had to suffer in silence.

The tiny store was painted baby pink and had a wooden lace ribbon above the entrance. Just seeing that made me want to turn tail and run like hell to the corner store and grab a bunch of shoot-em-up comics. But my friends sensed this might happen and Connie grasped my arm slightly, gave me a Look and we went into the store.

"Where are the juniors dresses, please?" Diana asked the elderly saleslady. Her hair was Easter Egg blue and she looked half asleep at the counter.

"Towards the back, dears. Going somewhere fancy?" she asked.

Diana grinned while I tried to hide behind Rosemary. "Alice is turning 17 in a couple of weeks, ma'am." The woman sighed.

"Ah, to be seventeen again," she said wistfully. "Live it up as much as you can girls," she smiled, picking up a box of reciepts.

"Yes, ma'am," we all answered dutifully. I flipped her the finger as we went to the back of the store. Connie rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, these are all horrible!" I complained, rifling through the racks. Too ruffly, too bright, too girly!

Connie squealed moments later, "Guys, I think I found it!" Rosemary and Diana rushed over to her, but I shuffled behind them slowly, throwing mournful looks out the frosted window of the boutique. I eventually ran out of things to look at, so my gaze went to Connie, who was wearing an exasperated expression. "Lise, it's _your _party, can you at least _try_ to seem a little excited?"

"Alright," I grumbled, reaching for the dress she held out to me. It was actually an okay dress, definitely my style and not a frill in sight, though there was a dark peach-coloured ribbon with a bow around the middle. The dress itself was almost a salmon-pink with crossed zig-zag patterns over it, and ribbon-laced edging around the short sleeves and neckline. I nodded and actually felt a grin starting to creep on my face. "I'm going to try it on," I said, and all three of them started squealing instantly.

"Okay, I'm trying it on, but for the love of Pete, please don't make that sound again!" I flung the dress over my shoulder and headed to the dressing room.

"I'll look for shoes!" Diana called, already rummaging in the back.

****

As we left the store with me trying to hide the pink girlish bag that held my dress and my first ever pair of white pumps behind my back, Chris and his friend Jonny were rounding the corner, presumably headed to the general store, but Chris was headed right for me. Oh, Lord. I did not need a confrontation while I had a girly bag with a dress behind my back. I instinctively made a face and turned to leave, but Connie and Diana grabbed me by the arms again and whirled me around. Rosemary hissed in my ear, "Talk to him, will you? I know something's going on with you two, but you don't have to be a bitch about it." I glared at my traitor of a friend and hissed back through clenched teeth, "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew what he did."

Rosemary suddenly smiled sweetly and looked up at Chris and Jonny. "Hey, guys," Jonny said, nodding his head in my direction.

I nodded back, determined not to look at Chris, but he was trying to catch my eye, so I had to double my efforts.

"Shopping?" Jonny continued, pointing to my pink bag which had fallen slack to my side and no longer in hiding. I blushed furiously.

"Ummm, yeah. My birthday's coming up in two weeks. I just bought my dress," I mumbled, shoving the bag at Diana. She sighed and stuffed the offensive bag in her school satchel.

"You can come, if you want," Rosemary said, in that same sickly sweet voice. I knew she liked Jonny, but she didn't have to act like a jackass in front of him. I elbowed her in the ribs so she'd cut it out. "In fact," she pressed on, giving me a look of death and rubbing her side. "We'd love it if you would."

Jonny nodded, unaware of our off behaviour. Well, guys are clueless anyway, right? Chris stepped in front of Rosemary, Jonny and I and took me by the wrist. "Lise, I need to tell you something, well, all of you guys."

That got my attention. At least he wasn't going to talk to me about his indescretion in front of everybody. "What?" I said, shrugging his hand off my wrist and crossing my arms.

"Teddy told me to tell you guys..." The corners of his mouth drooped down instantly. "He's moving to Portland next week."

"Huh?" Connie said. "Oh, man, that sucks!"

I felt like a hole had been suddenly punctured in my lungs. Teddy and I hadn't always been super close like me and Chris, or me and Gordie, but he had been a constant in my life since I was 10 years old, so him not being here anymore would be the biggest change ever. And he always made me laugh, even when he didn't mean too.

"Oh, shit, Chris. I had no... Did he say why?" I was still carefully avoiding looking in his eyes.

"Yeah, his dad's being moved to a treatment facility there, and he wants to be close to him, so..."

I nodded. "I can understand that. Well, we should throw him a bon voyage party."

Chris looked up at me. "Even though your birthday's in two weeks?"

"Yeah, well, he won't be able to go to that party, so it'll be like two party's in one. We can have it next Friday." All our friends were nodding their approval.

"Alright, I'll let him and Gordie and Vern know," Chris said, starting to head down the street with Jonny who waved goodbye to Rosemary. She gave him another blinding smile in return.

"Give Teddy a kiss from all of us," Diana called to Chris, giggling. I blushed furiously again at her choice of words but no one noticed, and Chris flipped her the finger as he and Jonny opened the door to the general store.

****

Friday night, Teddy's party:

In the living room I had set up card tables with cheese puffs, popcorn, chips and plates with cold cuts and veggies with dip. I also had out about a million different kinds of soda. I surveyed my work and nodded to myself, double-checking to make sure the 'Bon Voyage, Teddy' banner hanging on the far wall was secured well with pins. All of our gang had signed it and we had all put our handprints made with paint as well.

Earlier that evening, I had made a small carboard collage with doubles of my favourite pictures of me, Chris, Gordie, Teddy and Vern from when we were kids. Teddy would probably roll his eyes and pronounce it too girly and sentimental, but I knew secretly he'd be pleased I'd gone to the trouble. I positioned the posterboard on my Mum's wicker rocking chair so it wouldn't be missed.

Everyone was supposed to show up around seven, but not one of my friends was known for being particularly punctual, so I settled down on the sofa and leafed through an old comic book. The doorbell rang fifteen minutes later with Chris, Gordie, Jonny, Rosemary, Diana and Connie. Vern was still at the bakery waiting to pick up the cupcakes we had ordered.

My friends bustled in through the front door chuckling and giggling to each other. "Who's going to bring Teddy?" I asked as I followed Diana over to my record collection.

"Ummm," she hedged. Her eyes darted over to Connie, who shook her head slightly.

"Guys, I'm not blind. I saw that," I sighed. "Just come out with it." I pulled a Beach Boys record out of its' sleeve and put it on the turntable.

"Um, Ace is bringing him," Diana rushed on, looking at the cold cut plates.

"Oh," I stood there frozen, holding the needle to place down on the record. I could feel my face starting to heat up and saw Chris shoot a glance over at me, then went back to talking to Jonny and Rosemary.

"You guys have to work this out!" Diana hissed. "The tension between you and Chris... I mean, Ace isn't dumb, Lise, he's gonna figure something's up. Don't you think it'll be better if he hears it from you?"

I grabbed her wrist and glared at her. "Don't you think I know that?" I grumbled. "I didn't know he was coming tonight, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna ruin Teddy's last night in Castle Rock by having a public fight with my boyfriend!" My voice was small and shrill and Diana got the picture, though her mouth hardened into a tight line.

Half an hour later, the party was really hopping. Vern's cupcakes had all but been devoured and Teddy was standing by the wicker chair looking down at my collage with a crooked smile on his face. He pushed up his thick black glasses and slung his arm around my shoulder.

"Hey, thanks, Lise," he said grinning, but I could see a tinge of sadness in his eyes.

"Me?" I said, feigning surprise. "What makes you think _I _had anything to do with this?"

He rolled his eyes and nudged Gordie, who was beside him, in the ribs. "Who else is sentimental enough to make me a collage?" Gordie nodded.

"He's right, Lise," he said, and shrugged, giving me an exaggerated wink.

It was _this_ I was going to miss, the comraderie between our gang. Teddy had always been able to make me laugh like no other, and his leaving waws one more thread from the slowly unravelling sweater that was my life.. I leaned over and gave Teddy a kiss on the cheek and he groaned and wiped it off like he always did when I showed my girly side.

I left Teddy and Gordie to go mingle, when I noticed Connie talking to Ace in the hallway by the front door. I didn't even know he was still here, I thought he would've taken off after he dropped Teddy off. It look liked he wanted to come over to me, but Connie was talking to him softly, probably remembering our conversation earlier with Diana.

"Good girl," I whispered. "Keep him over there, Connie. No blow ups tonight and I'd talk to him this weekend until the cows came home."

I saw Ace nod curtly to Connie and he slumped out of the front door, but not before giving me a dark look. I swallowed hard and instantly felt really bad for keeping another secret from him, but for right now there was nothing I could do. "I'll call him first thing tomorrow," I promised myself as I accepted a plastic cup of Cola from Jonny.

Vern declared then that there was going to be a group photo taken. Our Mum had come down from hiding armed with her old Kodak Brownie camera and asked us all to get in close together and to have me Vern, Chris, Teddy and Gordie to crouch in the font. Right before Mum snapped the photo, I glanced at my four best friends in the world and wished everything could've stayed the same as it did even two weeks before. How could things fall apart in so little time?


End file.
